Wish
by Brittany Bright
Summary: OneShot. JinxFuu. Fuu's one wish is now in the hands of the distant and elusive stars...


**No spoilers, all fluff. JinxFuu. Awwww. Those crazy kids. How could you not love these two?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo. If I did, Jin and Mugen would be helping me find _my_ Sunflower Samurai. Riiiiight.**

* * *

Wish

The distant and elusive stars.

Too far to be warm, too close to be cold. Too far and too close. I wanted to reach out and touch them. I wanted their fire to light me, too. I wanted to understand their far-away faces. I could never understand.

I sighed deeply. My head was so up in the clouds, I truly did wonder about the stars. My mother once told me that they should be my best friends, considering how I'm always going to visit them. They were too far to truly comfort me, too close to not comfort me.

I sighed again. _It's been a long time, my friends_, I silently called to them. It was true, I hadn't time to truly watch the stars like I used to. Not anymore. Not since I met them.

Those two. _I should tell you about them_, I said to the stars. _They are_…

What were they?

I smiled. _Well_, I continued, _you probably already know, considering you see everything up there_._ You've probably also noticed that they've left me again_.

That was the real reason I was watching the stars again. They left me again for sake and sex. Ran into the red light district faster than I could say, "I'm hungry." Took all the money, too. They always left me. They always left me for something better, more beautiful, more satisfying. And then they were back in the morning like something the panda dragged in, as if their promise to me was an afterthought.

_Oh, stars_, I pleaded, _how could they leave me? Again? Didn't they like me? At all?_

The stars didn't answer. Then again, they never did.

Well, forget them. I still had the stars. The distant and elusive stars.

Ugh, I couldn't even properly hold a grudge. I needed those idiots, whether I cared to admit it or not. _Don't tell them I told you that_, I whispered to the stars. _Their heads are swollen enough already_. Well, Mugen's is. As for Jin, beats me what he's thinking. Those two…

I smiled again.

Mugen is loud, obnoxious, impetuous, crass, perverted, uncouth, and that's just the short list.

Jin, on the other hand, is stoic, quiet, distant, polite, calm, composed, and…

…and standing right behind me.

I heard the soft march of his geta long before I registered it. Only Jin moved like that. Soft and slow, long strides always moving with a purpose.

I blinked a few times, clearing my thoughts, and leaned back, looking up at my silent samurai. My… _my_? I bit my lip; he was by no means mine. He was no more mine than the stars were mine, distant and elusive.

He looked down at me with that same expressionless face he always wore. There was no point in trying to decipher it. I gave that up a long time ago.

I twisted my head back to look at the stars again. They suddenly seemed a little closer.

"Jin," I whispered. A truly brilliant opening line, if I do say so myself. But I didn't know what to say.

Instead of answering, he walked up and sat down next to me. The quiet rustle of his gi lulled me slightly. I closed my eyes sleepily, breathing in the crisp air of the countryside. It was sharp and refreshing, but there was something else. Something heady and mellifluous. I realized it was Jin. Did he always smell like that?

My eyes snapped open and I swallowed a thought so swiftly I was too slow to name it. I had to speak.

"Jin?" I didn't wait for an answer; I knew better than to hope for one. "What are you doing here?" My voice was too loud and high-pitched. I turned my face away from him and grimaced.

He took so long to answer I thought he never would. His lips parted for a split second before he spoke.

"I saw you were out here."

I had hoped for too much when I hoped for a real reason. Leave it to Jin to never reveal all his cards. I sighed.

"Oh."

We both stared at the stars in total silence. I wanted to reach out and touch them, feel them. I wanted their fire to light me, too.

I looked to Jin. Too far to be warm, too close to be cold.

"Jin?" Why couldn't I ever just let the silence be?

I said the first thing that came to mind. "Have you ever wished upon a star?"

I was such an idiot. Even more so than Mugen.

Of course he never wished on stars. Why would he wish on a star? This was Jin, here. _Jin_. He's never had such a childish, wistful thought in his life. Jin would never wish on a star.

"No," was the faint reply.

Idiot.

"My mother used to tell me not to talk to the stars. She said it was childish. She said that people that wished on stars only got disappointed. Stars don't listen. Stars couldn't talk back. Well, my mother didn't know what she was talking about, I think. I think the stars do listen, even if they don't talk back."

Jin sat through my verbal diarrhea with his usual impassive countenance, except at my final sentence. A slender eyebrow quirked up.

I ran with this.

"Do you want to wish on a star?" I asked. If it was possible, that brow arched to even higher proportions.

"How?" Spoken so softly, yet it was somehow strong enough to make my heart beat quicker and my breaths become shorter. I clutched his sleeve.

"It's easy," I said brightly, flashing him an encouraging smile. My grandmother taught me this so long ago, and it was nice to share it with someone. Back then I used to wish for adventures. Now, I think it was safe to say my priorities had changed. I pointed to a star.

"Pick a star. A nice, big bright one." I lowered my arm and scooted a little closer to him. "Then close your eyes." I demonstrated, lowering my lids and taking a deep breath. I heard his clothes rustle briefly and I tightened my hold on his sleeve, as if reassuring myself that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Now, make a wish and tell it to your star."

Silence. I could feel his apprehension.

"Don't worry, it doesn't have to be out loud," I assured him. He very subtly relaxed and took a breath.

We sat there frozen for just a second. When I opened my eyes, the stars felt so much closer than they had before. I was sure this time that when I reached out, I could touch them.

"What did you wish for?" I asked him.

Jin's face was downcast, typically unreadable, and I realized that there was no way Jin would be telling me his wish, if he had even made one.

I looked back at the stars. I wanted to reach out and touch them.

I felt, rather than saw, Jin's gaze turn to me. I smiled more gaily than I felt and turned to him. He was closer than I thought.

I plunged on. "Well, that's how you do it. Not too hard." The stars were so close now. I could feel their heat. "Want to know what I wished for?"

A slight nod. It was all I needed.

I leaned in ever so slightly and pressed my lips against Jin's.

So this was what the stars felt like.

I poured all of myself into that kiss. Everything. All of my passion, my desire, my hope. That was my wish. To touch the stars.

We parted lips, hearts pounding. Jin's mouth curved into a slight smile, the first I had ever seen grace his lips. Then he spoke in the soft and even voice he seemed to save just for me.

"That was my wish, too."

Suddenly, the stars didn't seem so distant and elusive anymore. I understood.

* * *

**Geez, does it get any more sappy? I don't know what lovey-dovey mood I was in when I wrote this, but I hope you all enjoyed it anyway. I hope everyone wasn't terribly OOC, but there was no way I could get it to come out any differently. Besides, the world needs more JinxFuu fluff, no? Fluff is good for the soul!**

**Please review!**

**BB**


End file.
